Dining Out: Benedict

During my family's Israel trip, we had incredible luck with restaurants. We spent a few weeks gathering recommendations from family and friends on where we should dine out in each of the neighborhoods we'd be exploring.

One of my Boston friends (a recent transplant to Tel Aviv) suggested we try a place called Benedict. Why did we take that recommendation above others? Probably because her email said, "They serve breakfast 24 hours a day." 24 hours a day? That's like . . . an urban legend.

It was the morning after my cousin's wedding that we decided to try it. What better way to cure a hangover than with a massive breakfast?

Benedict is located at the corner of Ben Yehuda Street and Jabotinsky Street, two busy streets in north Tel Aviv (and just two blocks from the beach). You can spot it by its beautiful outdoor patio.

At the time we arrived there were no available seats outside, so they offered to seat us inside, but in the big front window. We agreed and were lead to our table.

The interior design at Benedict is a really fun one.

Each of the booth walls are painted a different color and have breakfast dishes affixed to them!

The one directly next to us had a plate, a fork, an orange juicer, a coffee mug, a sugar bowl and salt and pepper shakers. The circle on the right says "boker tov" which means "good morning" in Hebrew.

I knew I was going to love Benedict when I was handed the menu. Right at the top it says, "Good morning and welcome to the wonderful world of breakfast." On the menu they are sure to highlight that they are open 24 hours a day.

The first thing our waiter Matan asked (I love the name Matan) was if we'd like any cocktails. Benedict has an entire menu of just mimosas! Bananas, orange, peach, lychee, pineapple and more!

They also have a series of brunch cocktails, each highlighting a different fresh fruit.

While we looked over the multitude of breakfast options, Matan brought us a bread basket and a trio of spreads - butter, apple cinnamon jam and Nutella. I love this country.

Everything in the bread basket was fresh out of the oven and you can really taste that kind of difference. I grabbed the multigrain roll (more on that in a minute).

After much debate, each of us finally narrowed down to one meal choice. My dad went with the salmon benedict. While he said the hollandaise was good, the poached eggs were nicely done and the salmon was fresh, the brioche toast was so dry that he couldn't get past it.

I ordered what's called the Balkan style Israeli breakfast. It's a few things - first, an omelette with creamed spinach, onion, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese.

As well as an Israeli salad (diced cucumber, tomato and red onion), tehina and avocado hummus. Remember earlier I mentioned I snagged a multigrain roll from the bread basket? I used it to scoop up every last bit of that creamy, rich avocado hummus.

A few of my family members decided to order more brunch/lunch type items. My sister went with the Greek salad. She described it as, "the perfect ratio of veggies to feta cheese. It had so much feta. The rustic chop of the vegetables gave it a very satisfying crunch." She went on to say, "It was just the right amount of dressing and also the ideal portion size for me to feel full, but also still ready to put my bathing suit on." My mom then chimed in, "Oooo. That's important! Right that down."

My brother-in-law chose the chicken salad sliders. It came with three mini sliders. Each was stacked on a bed of lettuce with a huge scoop of chicken salad and then topped with a juicy slice of tomato.

His meal also came with a side of French fries, which we all dug into. They were super crispy.

As you can see, what had quite the spread!

Eventually we had to tap out. No one finished there plate because the servings were so huge. My brother-in-law decided to take his last slider back to the apartment, put in the fridge, then take it to the beach later.

As our plates were being cleared, Matan brought us wet naps. Each one said, "Good morning. 24 hours a day." These people understand branding.

My favorite little touch was actually the business card that came with the check. It read, "That was a good morning!" Then it encouraged you to write a review on TripAdivsor. Very smart!

Two other things to note, each breakfast at Benedict comes with two drinks. So you can get coffee and a cocktail or hot tea and a fresh fruit juice. They also play awesome music. During our meal we heard Robin Thicke, Michael Jackson and my personal favorite, Blackstreet's "No Diggity."

Benedict has three locations in Israel. Be sure to see if one of them is near you on your next trip!

In advance of our Israel trip, we asked our family and friends for restaurant recommendations that would be walking distance from our rental apartment. Everyone - both locals and those who had visited recently - insisted we make a reservation at Goocha on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv.
I have no idea why, but the word "Goocha" is just so fun to say! When my sister would say it she'd add a little jig.

While I was in Israel in May I got to spend two full days exploring Tel Aviv. Of all the cities in Israel, Tel Aviv is the one I could actually see myself living in. It has all the best dining, art and music and it just so happens to be right on the beach.
On my second day in Tel Aviv my tour guides were my aunt and my cousin. We knew we wanted to explore this area called Kikar Bazel (Bazel Square) so we parked and started walking around.
We were in search of a brunch spot and noticed this place called Streets Bazel. We spotted it because it had a huge outdoor patio.